Hip Hop / R&B Recommendations April 2014

Review: Joseph Deenmamode first surfaced under the Mo Kolours guise back in 2011, dropping the inaugural release in a trilogy of 12?s for the One-Handed Music label. Across this trilogy, the Mo Kolours sound cross-referenced the Sega Music native's homeland of Mauritius with a dope-addled appreciation of Theo Parrish, dub, dreamy pop, hip hop and more, and has found favour with everyone from Gilles Peterson through Hot Chipper Joe Goddard and the Future Times crew. Deenmamode now returns to One Handed with a self titled debut album that further expands on his already expansive style across a weighty kaleidoscopic eighteen tracks, with his rhythmic prowess really coming to the fore. One of the most enjoyable albums released so far this year!

Review: Music from the young Joshua Leary has been sporadic since he emerged on a wave of YouTube hype at the tail end of 2011, with only the Kings and Them mixtape and this year's one-sided Duga-3release on Record Store Day, but given he received a production credit on Kanye West's Yeezus album last year his relative silence can be forgiven. As such the Waterfall EP represents perhaps Leary's first proper release, and it shows that he has come a long way since the early days of his career. Containing four tracks that bridge the gap between jungle, hip hop and ambient music, Waterfall is both delicate and savage in equal measure, especially on the closing title track, where plaintive piano and semi-automatic snares collide to thrilling effect.